Newington gun store owner imposes stricter rule than state law

A sign reading, Guns for the Good Guys, hangs at Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Shooting Range on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington on 1/7/2012.Photo by Arnold Gold/New Haven Register AG0479C

A sign reading, Guns for the Good Guys, hangs at Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Shooting Range on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington on 1/7/2012.Photo by Arnold Gold/New Haven Register AG0479C

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A sign reading, Guns for the Good Guys, hangs at Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Shooting Range on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington on 1/7/2012.Photo by Arnold Gold/New Haven Register AG0479C

A sign reading, Guns for the Good Guys, hangs at Hoffman's Gun Center & Indoor Shooting Range on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington on 1/7/2012.Photo by Arnold Gold/New Haven Register AG0479C

Newington gun store owner imposes stricter rule than state law

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Hoffman's Gun Center and Indoor Shooting Range has a new policy on assault-type rifles in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, a change that has ignited a storm on Facebook.

The Newington store, whose motto is "Guns for the Good Guys," announced late last week on Facebook that "Hoffman's Gun Center will require a Connecticut state pistol permit to purchase 'assault style' center fire rifles."

That's instead of the previous policy of selling a weapon like an AR-15 or Bushmaster .223 (used in the Newtown slayings) pending a two-week background check.

The move set off a torrent of reaction on Facebook, ranging from some support of the change to charges of capitulation to "gun grabbers," scorn about whether it will have any effect and charges it was being done for business reasons -- so that such weapons won't have to sit for two weeks pending background checks that may not pan out.

Later Friday, the high-volume store's Facebook site posted a further clarification saying, "Active Military, Ct Hunting License & law Enforcement will also be accepted."

Owner Scott Hoffman was out of town and unavailable for comment, but General Manager Dave Cavedon said, "What we're doing is, we're just kind of upping the standard (so) that there's a double-check system out there. Because if you have a hunting license or a pistol permit to make that purchase, those both can be immediately revoked if you've made some unhealthy choices, so to (speak)."

A person who has a pistol permit "shows that they're going through an approval process, and that there's an ultimate authority, the state, not us, making that decision of whether this person is worthy -- not by just the background check," Cavedon said. "They also have to have the pistol permit, which holds them to a higher standard."

Customers have been passionate about the move, on both sides.

"As you can see from the Facebook page, we've received mixed feedback from them, some positives and some negatives," Cavedon said. "And we understand both and we're not trying to set any type of legislation to this. We're just trying to take a chance to double check what's going out the door."

State Sen. Martin Looney of New Haven said he hadn't heard of the Hoffman's change, but said the legislature would be dealing with a "whole range of gun-related legislation" in the upcoming session.

"Some of it will have to do with perhaps expanding the requirement for permits in certain areas, putting additional weapons on the banned list for assault weapons (and) dealing with the issue of high-capacity magazines," Looney said.

Gun sellers are seeing a rush of business lately because of the gathering clouds of legislation.

U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal said he supports legislation to make sure guns don't get into the wrong hands.

"I've supported measures to close the (gun-show) loophole and extend background checks to all gun sales," he said Monday.

Amid the heated exchanges on Facebook, Hoffman's on Saturday posted "It's a reasonable act in an unreasonable time. ... At the very least, people we sell this type of firearm to have had some basic training. It's all about safety."

Hoffman's, which is closed for inventory today and Wednesday after doing brisk business amid the re-election of President Barack Obama and the Newtown tragedy (including a sale on AR-15s at Christmastime, according to posts), will reopen Thursday.

Many online posters called the change "reasonable," but others, such as R. Pitchard, said, "Where do you honestly feel that passing a basic pistol course has (any) relevance on the purchase of a rifle?"

Still others used more inflammatory language involving "liberals," "commies," and a boycott of Hoffman's.